View full sizeKATUDave SaleskyAuthorities confirmed today that the pilot of a plane that made an emergency landing on Sauvie Island Sunday was KATU's chief meteorologist, Dave Salesky.

Salesky's single engine plane lost power on approach to Scappoose Airport shortly after noon, said Lt. Mary Lindstrand, spokeswoman for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. The plane landed safely in a wheat field on the north part of the island.

Salesky told deputies that he relied on his early training when the engine went out, remembering to keep the nose of the plane up and to look for an open field, Lindstrand said.

She said Salesky, 52, asked that his name not be released Sunday so he could inform his family that he was okay following the incident.

Salesky, a longtime weather forecaster for KGW who debuted on KATU in October, could not be reached for comment.